Tyler Cloyd Rumors

The Indians have a logjam of players who can handle right field, first base and DH, but Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the surplus doesn’t mean a trade is likely. David Murphy‘s name has come up in rumors, but team has to first determine the health status of Nick Swisher, Brandon Moss and Ryan Raburn. Swisher had surgery on both knees in August, Moss had hip surgery in October and Raburn had left knee surgery in September in addition to dealing with a sore wrist for much of the season. Hoynes provides a health update on each player, and he also spoke with Francona, who sounded happy to have a number of options on his hands: “You walk that fine line. You have guys who expect playing time … but at the same time we can’t let our season be derailed by the unknown. I think [GM] Chris [Antonetti] did a really god job protecting us … I think it’s going to make us a better team and protect us from the unknown.”

A couple more Indians notes…

The Indians’ signing of Gavin Floyd was all about adding depth and innings to a promising but young rotation, writes MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. While the team does have other arms that had figured to compete for time in the rotation, they can continue to develop in the upper minors and remain ready to step in if a need arises.

Also from Bastian, the club announced today that Jason Bere, a special assistant to the baseball operations department, has been named the club’s new bullpen coach in the wake of Kevin Cash’s departure to manage the Rays. “He’s been with the organization a long time, so everybody knows him,” Francona told Bastian. “By design, we had him around a lot, not just in Spring Training, but in September and at a few key points during the year, because of what he can add to a staff.”

After receiving his release today from Cleveland, righty Tyler Cloyd is expected to reach agreement with the KBO’s Samsung Lions, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. The club had announced that it was releasing Cloyd so that he could pursue an opportunity in Korea.

The Indians announced a series of minor pitching transactions on Twitter. Left-hander Michael Roth has been inked to a minor league deal with a spring invite, while righty Tyler Cloyd has been released to afford him an opportunity to pitch in Korea.

Roth is a 24-year-old who has thrown mostly in relief at the major league level while working as a starter in the minors. The University of South Carolina grad has been hit around in the bigs, but worked to a solid 2.62 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 140 2/3 innings as a starter at Double-A. Roth refused an outright assignment with the Angels after being designated for assignment back in November.

The 27-year-old Cloyd, meanwhile, worked at Triple-A last year with the Indians organization, pitching to a 3.89 ERA over 166 2/3 frames with 6.4 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9. He had served as a spot starter for Cleveland at the MLB level over the prior two years, compiling a 5.98 ERA over 93 1/3 total innings.

The Indians announced today that they have outrighted catcher Chris Gimenez off the 40-man roster and re-signed right-hander Tyler Cloyd to a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training.

Gimenez, 32 in December, batted .241/.313/.328 in 116 plate appearances for the Rangers and Indians this season. The journeyman backstop has seen Major League action with Texas, Cleveland, Tampa and Seattle in parts of six seasons at the big league level, totaling a .210/.297/.302 batting line. He’ll have the option to hit the open market and should draw interest from teams in need of catching depth, especially given this year’s thin crop of free agent catchers.

Cloyd, 27, spent the year in the rotation at Triple-A Columbus after being claimed off waivers from the Phillies around this time last year. He pitched to a 3.89 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 166 2/3 innings in his first year with the Cleveland organization.

Braves GM Frank Wren says he viewed Ryan Doumit as the best player available to fill his bench need because "he's almost two players in one," tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Atlanta acquiredRyan Doumit from the Twins in exchange for left-hander Sean Gilmartin earlier today. More out of the AL and NL East..

While Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulous is still engaged in trade talks, he might be content to stand pat at this stage of the offseason, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

The Doumit pickup also allows Evan Gattis to pinch hit when he's not catching for the Braves, notes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).

The Red Sox are still interested in Stephen Drew following today's acquisition of infielder Jonathan Herrera, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Herrera will serve as a utility man for Boston.

Cloyd, 26, was recently non-tendered along with Carson after being claimed off waivers from the Phillies on October 2. He split the 2013 campaign between Triple-A Lehigh Valley and the Phillies. Cloyd posted a 4.71 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 19 Triple-A starts and a 6.56 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 11 starts and two relief outings for the Phillies. In 2012, Cloyd was named the International League Pitcher of the Year.

Banwart, 27, spent his entire professional career in the Athletics' organization until today. Banwart posted a 4.60 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 23 starts and six relief appearances at the Triple-A level.

Carson had 13 plate appearances for the Indians in 2013 but spent the bulk of the year at the Triple-A level where he hit .252/.322/.394 in 490 plate appearances.

Major League clubs have until 11pm CT tonight to tender contracts to players for the 2014 season. We'll run down the list of American League non-tenders here. Remember that you can track all of the action using MLBTR's Non-Tender tracker, and we offer a full list of non-tender candidates as well. Also of use will be our Arbitration Eligibles series, which includes Matt Swartz's projected 2014 salaries for all arbitration eligible players.

The Red Sox announced that they have non-tendered outfielder Ryan Kalish, Mike Salk of WEEI.com tweets.

The White Sox will not tender a contract to pitcher Dylan Axelrod, tweets Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune.

The Angels will non-tender pitcher Jerome Williams, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. The club will also non-tender righty Tommy Hanson and third baseman Chris Nelson, tweets DiGiovanna. J.C. Gutierrez will also be non-tendered, tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, though that seemed a given since that he had already been designated for assignment.

The Rays are non-tendering outfielder Sam Fuld, a source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Fuld, who will turn 32 in a few weeks, could be a lefty-swinging bench piece for another club, though he slashed only .199/.270/.267 last year in 200 plate appearances for Tampa.

GM Brian Cashman says that the Yankees will non-tender infielder Jayson Nix, tweets Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. The 31-year-old veteran appeared in 87 games for New York last season, putting up a .236/.308/.311 line in 303 plate appearances. The club will also non-tender reliever Matt Daley and infielder David Adams. New York confirmed the moves via press release.

The Royals announced that they have non-tendered second baseman Chris Getz. The 30-year-old Getz has tried to hold down Kansas City's keystone spot for several years now but produced just a .246/.299/.314 batting line from 2012-13. Swartz had pegged Getz for a $1.3MM salary in 2014.

Cloyd never threw a pitch within the Indians organization. Cleveland claimed the 26-year-old off waivers from the Phillies in early October, after the minor league season had already ended. He has a solid minor league track record, as he's the owner of a 3.39 ERA to go along with 6.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 254 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level.

However, Cloyd was hit hard at the big league level in 2013, posting a 6.56 ERA in 60 1/3 innings and averaging 6.1 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings with a 39.4 percent ground-ball rate. His 86.3 mph average fastball is one of the slowest you'll see from a right-handed starter, creating plenty of room for doubt, but his FIP of 4.49 this season does leave some room for optimism.

To keep track of Cloyd's status as well as the dozen other players who have been designated for assignment in the past week, remember to check out MLBTR's DFA Tracker.

The Indians' magical season came to end at the hands of Alex Cobb and the Rays last night, as the Tribe fell 4-0 in the American League Wild Card game. Here's the latest on the Indians, whose focus will now shift to the offseason…

Jason Giambi told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he would like to play one more season, making an even 20 for his career (Twitter link). The Giambino hit just .183/.282/.371 in 216 plate appearances this season, but he did belt nine homers, including a dramatic pair of walk-off shots, the latter of which has to be considered one of the highlights of the season for the team.

Kazmir and right-hander Joe Smith both told reporters, including MLB.com's Jordan Bastian, that they hope to return to the Indians in 2014 (Twitterlinks). Kazmir added that he hopes to pick up where he left off in 2013, and Smith stated, "I don't want that to be my last game."

Twenty-four teams passed on Phillies right-hander Tyler Cloyd before the Indians claimed him off waivers yesterday, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. That Cloyd was waived despite having two options left shows that the team was never particularly enamored with him, adds Gelb. Cloyd was part of the proposed package for Astros reliever Wilton Lopez last offseason before the Phils backed off due to concerns over Lopez's elbow.

The Indians have claimed right-hander Tyler Cloyd off waivers from the Phillies and designated left-hander Clay Rapada for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the team announced viaTwitter.

The 26-year-old Cloyd was rocked for a 6.56 ERA in 60 1/3 innings for the Phillies this season, averaging 6.1 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings with a 39.4 percent ground-ball rate. A 4.49 FIP suggests that Cloyd's abnormally high .365 batting average on balls in play and 64.5 percent strand rate helped to partially inflate his ERA. There's only so much room for optimism though, as his 86.3 mph average fastball velocity is one of the lowest you'll see from a right-handed starter. He has a 3.39 ERA and 3.6 K/BB ratio in 254 2/3 career innings at the Triple-A level.

Rapada, 32, pitched to a 1.12 ERA with 20 strikeouts and nine walks in 24 innings at Triple-A Columbus while in the Cleveland organization. He held lefties to a .188/.240/.261 batting line in the minors this season, which is par for the course for Rapada, against whom lefties have hit just .164/.255/.231 in 257 big league plate appearances. Rapada gets torched by right-handers though, having allowed a .345/.464/.611 line and clearly establishing himself as a pure left-handed specialist.